MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Around Australia today thousands of parents are struggling with how to combine work and family life and they're doing the sums on skyrocketing childcare costs. Last month the Productivity Commission released its draft report into the childcare system and today it begins public hearings around the country. The first will be in Perth...

This review found that there is a comparatively high level of concern within the Victorian community regarding the effectiveness of current efforts in addressing corruption, despite international rankings that rate Australian jurisdictions as being amongst the least vulnerable to corruption in the world.

This report recommends that the Department of Immigration and Citizenship focus on building and maintaining a high performance culture now that most of the recommendations of the Palmer, Comrie and Ombudsman reports have been implemented. The report was commissioned by the department to assess the progress and effectiveness of the department’s response to the 2005...

Elizabeth Proust was commissioned earlier this year to examine the extent to which the minister should make personal decisions and whether alternative arrangements could be pursued. She makes six recommendations focusing on immediate steps to manage the current processes as well as identifying possible changes for the future. According to the government, the department has...

The essential features of the current Defence organisation were established over 30 years ago in peacetime. Today, in a period of high operational activity, this report finds an organisation struggling to deliver administratively when its main focus is on supporting military operations in nine major deployments around the world. The Defence organisation has undoubtedly made...